Dave Borton

Listened to the Dodgers whip up on the Padres 11-2. Lynn won his 11th (11-11, 5.94) but he served up his 41st meatball of the year, this time to Tatis. 41.. He is chasing Bert's record of 50. Bert did it in 271 innings; Lynn is at 166. Ratios: Lynn, .25, Blyleven, .18 or Lynn, 2.25 per 9 inn, 1.62/9 It's late. Hope I did my public math right.

Is Willi Castro a $1.8MM bargain or is he a $1.8MM bargain?

Rosario is one of those ballplayers you love or gasp at. For me, his erratic defensive playing (particularly throwing to wrong base or bypassing/missing the cutoff man) drove me nuts. Base running was always a pleasure from hell as well (winks). He needed a change of scenery and Cleve didn't work. He seems to have settled down in Atlanta.

Jays, Rays, A's, now there's a difference. Even I can see that one.

Airmail Eddie is hitting .265 for the year, .801 OPS, and .324 for last 30 days.

Man, I must have been asleep at the switch. I totally missed this, thx.

Vazquez, 84 games C Jeffers, 72 games C

Even from way up in section 319, I could tell how tall Lopez is. Bud remarked how "stork-like" the delivery is with a very deep delivery point. You could tell that from the landing point on the mound. I said, looks like he has ball bearings in his joints. From up top, looked like he was working the upper zone a great deal. Looked just a bit tired in the 8th inn but radar gun said I was wrong. Reported crowd of 22,000. And I am the pope. All the season tix holders were at US Bank. I put the crowd, BISs, at about 13,000. Noisy crowd -- great. Very responsive to Lopez. The standing O at end of 8th (believe he was at 100 pitches) was very spontaneous and he professionally acknowledged the cheers. The whole scoreboard arrangement, the ads, the "visual litter" all over the place makes it hard to focus on pitch count, outs, pitch speed, type of pitch, etc. I just find it visually noisy. The incessant noise is overdone. I admit to being my 8th decade. But when my bud and I can't converse about the game, it is annoying as heck. And don't even get me started on "let's make some noise." The applause and ovation for Lopez were ball fans reacting quite naturally to superb performance. Isn't that sufficient. And the throwing of rubber dice over the balcony for what, a T-shirt. Come on. Professionalize it. Lines were short. The ushers and staff were once again some of the most cordial, inviting, and professional sports venue staff I have experienced. Hats off to the team you have built in customer service.

Az Fall League or is he too high to get sent?

Are stats piling up in the data dept for other clubs and pitches/weak spots ID'd?

I have seen so many nicknames for him, that I have to write out Funderburk to remember it. Two more times, Funderburk, Funderburk.

Tongue in cheek w/self-references.

Uninsured only for previously ID'd injury aspects of their bodies, ie Correa foot and possibly back? Buxton has numerous injuries in the past so that would be a very thin rider on him.

Insurance? What underwriter would have touched that rider on a contract with the history of Buxton's injuries. Can you imagine the price-tag it would have been? I am believing there is no insurance. 1st knee injury, 5/2019 Signs long term contract, 11/2021 Comes from an article "UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS OF BASEBALL: INSURANCE ON PLAYER CONTRACTS..." Dated 2013 but relevant. https://metsmerizedonline.com/understanding-the-business-of-baseball-insurance-on-player-contracts/#:~:text=Most policies cover between 50,player is on the DL. Another more current article: "The medical underwriting process includes an application and physical exam, and exclusions for specific pre-existing injuries or illnesses may apply...." https://awmcap.com/blog/mlb-draft-disability-insurance-overview

If only he would braid the locs, he could sign a contract as Johnny Depp's sidekick in the 7th episode of "Pirates of the Caribbean." The camera would pan on Kody in high leverage situations. Call him Captain Kody Klutch. Have a broom hanging where a sword would be. Depp could play lines off the broom's presence. Capt Kody's stock answer would be, "I don't need a cutter; it's a sweeper." If Depp gets canned, there would be a change up in the cast. Kody could relieve him.

Odd move indeed. He has been down 12 days and hasn't thrown the first pitch.

Twins rarely show their cards on injuries, but I find them even tighter on Miranda's injury.

More importantly, what is their record against teams with records >.500. 36-38. They have improved that number compared to what it was at the All-Star break.

No, not realignment. If and when MLB expands by two teams, realignment might occur. I mean the discussions behind the back door, curtains closed when owners speak their minds about what is holding the sport back, whatever minimizes their ticket sales whenever an AL Central club visits their stadium, about the disparity in fielding a competitive environment. All of these affect their pocketbooks and about that, they are concerned.

Market size, yes. Ownership, no. San Diego's payroll shows depth of pockets trumps market size (though not W/L success). All AL Central owners are billionaires (getting my head around a billion is hard this morning). https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/12/mlb-owners-net-worth.html

Curious. This winter, will the owners privately address the dismal state of AL Central? How might they go about that? For a professional sport to have a perennially, dismally weak division harms the sport and business (attendance when AL Central opponent visits). AL Central is a laughing stock. It's about time to address that but don't know if or how other owners might take action. DIVISION RECORD OUTSIDE DIVISION AL East 231-164 (.585) NL East 217-198 (.523) NL West 209-204 (.506) AL West 201-204 (.496) NL Central 195-207 (.485) AL Central 157-233 (.402) Your thoughts? db

I as well. I had the Twins winning 79. They would have to go 6-17 to hit my number. I am just glad we are seeing excellent ball this fall.

Dust off the memory cells. Hector Santiago. Pitching for the Monclava Acereros (Steelers) in Mexican League. Beard is getting white, Hector.

Palka was a crowd fave w/WSox fans, constantly teasing and kidding w/Twitter fans.